Volusia Sunday race report 2005-02-13

Kinser Races to Victory In World of Outlaws Sprint Series Finale at Volusia
Barberville, FL -- February 13, 2005 -- It seems as if Steve Kinser has won at nearly every racetrack in the country, but one place he had never seen the winner's circle...

Kinser Races to Victory In World of Outlaws Sprint Series Finale at Volusia

Barberville, FL -- February 13, 2005 -- It seems as if Steve Kinser has won at nearly every racetrack in the country, but one place he had never seen the winner's circle was Volusia Speedway Park.

In front of packed grandstands Sunday at the 34th Annual Winter Nationals, Kinser changed that in dominating fashion. He topped qualifying with a 13.600-second lap around the half-mile banked dirt track, then won a Dash and finished off the night by capturing the checkered flag in the 30-lap A-main for his first victory this season and the 514th feature win in his legendary career.

Craig Dollansky also was fast throughout the night in his Karavan Motorsports machine. He worked the high side smoothly on Lap 10 to grab the lead, but Kinser masterfully cruised along the bottom, recapturing the top spot only three laps later and going on to collect the $10,000 top prize.

Dollansky held on to finish second, and was followed by Jason Meyers, Fred Rahmer and Kraig Kinser in the caution-free feature.

Kinser's victory came only two nights after he finished second to Jeff Shepard in the Outlaws' opening event at Volusia. In that race, Kinser made adjustments to his car that he believed cost him a shot at winning.

On Sunday, Kinser, an owner-driver, made few adjustments.

"It wasn't the one I made the other night," he said of the slight changes to his car. "Basically, we went back to what we thought was right the other night, except for that one change we made under red [Friday night]. We made a few little changes but everything was good tonight. After the Dash, we left the car alone."

Dollansky, who finished third Friday night, pushed his way through lapped cars in an attempt catch Kinser, but it was to no avail.

"We would have been happier coming out of here with a win tonight, Dollansky said. "It was close. It was a good race. If we could have gotten through lapped traffic a little bit better a few times I think it would have been a different outcome. Steve did a real good job and ended up with the trophy so we'll go again in Tulare."

Dollansky's run of two top-three finishes at Volusia was impressive, considering 56 cars attempted to qualify Friday night and 43 Sunday night.

"There's a lot of parity with all these race teams," said Dollansky, whose team seems satisfied with the results his J&J chassis has provided. "This weekend you had all the best teams in the country. It made it very tough for a lot of good teams to even make it into the A-main. I was happy with the progress our team made."

For Meyers, a third-place run seemed unlikely after he missed the transfer spot in a heat race. But he bounced back to win the B-main and surge through the field for a solid finish.

"It was definitely a good way to finish up," Meyers said. "There was kind of a lot of anger from missing that heat race. The guys did a great job on tire choice for the feature. We made the agreement going with the tires that we did that I had to run the bottom. I could run the top for a couple of laps and that was it. It paid off. We had a real good car on the bottom.

"When we pulled up to the scales, everybody said good job and I didn't even know where we finished."

The victory wraps up an extremely positive Speed Weeks for Kinser as the series prepares to head to the West Coast.

"It's always good to get started well," said Kinser, a 19-time champion. "We came out and shook the car down Thursday and ran second, ran second the next night and won tonight so we've been in the hunt every night. That's what you've got to do."

Kinser's victory and the World of Outlaws Sprint Series action from Volusia Speedway Park can be seen on The Outdoor Channel at 8 p.m. Eastern March 2.

The World of Outlaws Sprint Series next races Feb. 25 at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif., and Feb. 26 at Bakersfield Speedway in Bakersfield, Calif.

In addition, fans can experience the excitement of the World of Outlaws Sprint Series West Coast trip live on Dirtvision.com^Ù through the new DIRT Radio Network^Ù. To listen to the audio broadcasts, log on to www.dirtvision.com and click on DIRT Radio Network logo. You will need Windows Media Player 9 or higher to listen to the DIRT Radio Network. Companies who are interested in advertising on the new DIRT Radio Network should contact Mark Noble, DIRT MotorSports VP Sales and Marketing, at 719-884-2141. For technical support or questions, e-mail webmaster@dirtvision.com.